The present invention relates to a floorplate element for use as a bearing surface for a deck or platform of a commercial vehicle.
One of the applications envisaged relates to car-transporter vehicles.
This element is manufactured in large format with a view to being able to cut it to the precise dimensions of the frame structures which carry the floorplate.
At present, to cover the supporting framework of a vehicle loading deck, there are used perforated sheet plates resting on the rigidifying structure of a base frame.
This base frame comprises crossbeams firmly connected with longitudinal beams on which are mounted the perforated sheet plates.
Since the vehicle-transporting decks thus formed are mechanically stressed during transportation, it is advisable to immobilize sufficiently the supporting structures and their covering plates.
Thus, both the elements of the rigidifying structures of the supporting surface and the perforated plates are welded at numerous points.
These mechanical stresses entail the multiplication of weld seams necessary in places frequently of difficult access.
Exposure of these decks to bad weather imposes closure of the gaps at the junctions by an impervious material.
These structural requirements entail difficulties and excessive manufacturing costs.
Moreover, the crossbeams used consist of shaped members of partially or totally closed section defining cavities accessible only with difficulty to anti-rust protection products, paint and maintenance and cleaning products, even if the later are atomized under pressure.
Through a lack of protection and maintenance, these structures undergo premature ageing caused mainly by bad weather and the difficulty of providing effective protection.
Moreover, the interior volume of these shaped members of partially closed section escapes inspection.
Owing to the considerable differences between the tread widths of various vehicles to be transported, it is advisable to provide these perforated sheet plates over sizeable widths, sometimes necessitating two sheet formats.
The floorplate element according to the invention aims to remedy these principal disadvantages by the possibility of manufacturing rapidly and simply very long floorplates which are longitudinally self-locked by direct flush-fitting on the crossbeams of the supporting framework.
To this end, the floorplate element is characterized in that:
it is self-supporting between two successive transverse supports;
it may be mounted by a light fixing device complementing its detachable longitudinal self-locking;
it is economical and conformed to industrial mass production;
its shapes make it very easy to paint and to apply a protective layer;
inspection and cleaning prove considerably easier since its volumes are visible and open;
the grooves form cavities which may aid storage or the construction of a floor by engaging therein beams of small section;
it is possible to protect the surface of the floorplate by any suitable treatment before mounting it on its support;
the absence of weld seams permits mounting of different metals between the supporting structure and the floorplate, for example aluminium on iron.
The invention proceeds from the general inventive idea which consists in constructing a floorplate element of sheet folded according to a profile exhibiting a transverse sequence of raised areas and grooves, in forming by fold-compression of the sheet transverse planar recessed areas without modifying the raised areas which may be perforated, and in using these transverse planar recessed areas as bearing surfaces on the crossbeams of a supporting structure.
It relates more particularly to a floorplate element for use as a load bearing surface for a commercial vehicle, and is characterized in that its body is a corrugation of sheet folded in a transverse sequence of planar raised areas and grooves, said corrugation being formed from a sheet format by parallel longitudinal bends and exhibiting transverse recessed areas resulting from controlled localized compression of the lateral walls with a bringing closer of the bottoms of the grooves to the upper surface, the recessed areas being used as bearing surfaces for the floorplate element on the crossbeams of a supporting structure, in that controlled localized compression is effected without deformation of the raised areas, and in that the controlled localized compression extends over transverse areas.